abberly



July 23, 1963 N. R. ABBERLY 3,098,661

CLIPBOARD Filed May 15, 1962 United States Patent Ofiice 3,098,661 Patented July 23, 1963 3,098,661 CLHBQARD Nicholas Rippen Abberly, Dallas, Tex. Malueg, 922 25th St. SE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa) Filed May 15, 1962, Ser. No. 194,865 Claims. (Cl. 281.-44)

This invention relates to clipboards for holding paper sheets, the clipboard consisting in the main of a mounting panel and a thereto affixed sheet-engaging clamp, the clipboards being usable for either temporary or permanent filing of rectangular elongated sheets of, in the case of any given clipboard, uniform dimensions, which in American business correspondence are usually eight and one-half by eleven inches.

The object of the invention consists in providing a clipboard with which no letter-group-respective folders are needed and yet wherein the various letter groups are so disposed that, by facile flipping, any desired one can be quickly located for removal of it or a part or for an examination of it or for the insertion of recent letters or copies, the groups being arranged in any kind of desired order, or fortuitously, in which case only the convenience of keeping together all of the mutually related sheets in each group becomes the limited aim of the user.

For an understanding of the principles underlying the invention refer to the accompanying drawing.

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the invention-incorporating clipboard in a use-convenient attitude.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged plan view of the circumscribed part, 2, in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view of plane-of-symmetry parts in FIGURE 2, seen as per arrow 3.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view of a FIGURE 1 parts, seen as per arrow 4.

FIGURE 5 is a one-half-symmetrical fragmentary elevation view of a certain clamp-jaw lip.

FIGURE 6 is a cross sectional view in the offset plane 6-6 in FIGURE 2, seen without perspective.

FIGURE 7 is a view of a clipboard-associable sheetlike stiffener.

The mounting panel 11 is a molded plastic panel or a sawn or otherwise cutout part of a plastic panel or vulcanized sheet or other suitable material. It may assume any one of a number of different forms. The one depicted in FIGURE 1 is economical of material, of light weight and minimum dimensions, making a minimum demand on space for packaging, storing and shipping. A recommended carton would hold an even-numbered plurality, each two clipboards in a pair being faceto-face, the clamp of each holding the panel or the other, thereby protecting panel and clamp surfaces against marring.

The clamp in the main consists of an integral jaw mount, an integral jaw and an integral spring means, respectively indicated by 12, 15 and 14. The last is a leaf spring of the dual-lobe type, secured to the jaw by two hollow rivets 17. The jaw mount portion that is basic to the forming of the jaw mount is an elongated strip portion which is bent tnansversely midway to constitute two guides 12a. The mutually obliquely confronting guide surfaces define a right-angle V in which the clipboard-held sheets are corner-lodged. This V and the jaw keep the sheets in designed positions.

There are two pluralities of groups of sheets in every use of the clipboard. One consists of leftwardly obliquely disposed groups of sheets, the top sheet of the top group thereof bearing the legend, Adams Company. The other consists of rightwardly obliquely disposed groups of sheets, the top sheet of the top group there-of bearing the legend, Ainsworth Inc. The groups in the first plurality alternate with those in the second. By sliding alternate movements of index finger and thumb, the sheet groups can be individually successively flipped with speed, even by an inexperienced person until the desired group is found.

FIGURES 2, 3 and 6 depict the two jaw-mount fayin-g portions 12b. An integral extension of each is the outer lug wall 120, from which extends the inner lug wall 12d, from which in turn the doubler portion or doubler 12a is an ultimate extension. Each half of the jaw mount is panel-secured by a hollow rivet 18. Provided in each pair of outer lug wall and inner lug wall is a thereto common hole 16.

As can be seen in FIGURES 2. and 4, the toe of each one of the two lobes of spring 14 pressurally engages a respective one of the doublers 12c, specifically at a jawmount surface that parallelwise neighbors the mounting surface of the panel. In FIGURE 2 the extended position of the toe of spring 14, when the clamp is fully open and gripping a maximal plurality of sheets, is indicated by dashline 14x.

Panel 11 and the three elements, 12, 13 and 14, are all bilaterally symmetrical, the plane of symmetry being represented by centerline C. The panel edges include a base edge, alined with plane 19P-119P, and a crown edge, alined with plane 21P21-P, both being relatively short and bisected by centerline C, and two upper edges U, the mean straight line of one thereof being indicated by 22-22, and two lower edges L, the mean straight line of one thereof being indicated by 2323, all four being relatively long. The mean straight line of each said upper edge is angular to that of a laterally corresponding said lower edge. Each corner or radius edge intervening between a said upper and a corresponding one of said lower edges is quite small and is therefore ignored in the description and claims.

The panel face is compactly proportioned. The planeof-symmetry distance between the base edge and the crown edge measures eighy-nine and one-half one-hundredt-hs of the thereto rectangular longest distance, which is that between the two plane-of-symmetry-parallel planes 24-24 and 24-24, tangent to the two lateral corners of the panel. In all embodiments panel-face compactness is desirable. The degree of compactness in all embodiments is defined as follows: The panel-face plane-ofsymmetry dimension measures from nine-twelfths to sixteenatwelfths of the thereto rectangular longest panel-face dimension.

The jaw is recommended ly a steel component, pressed from drawing-quality sheet and stifiened 'by beading extending over the greater part thereof and by compound curvature in the unbeaded base-edge-distal sheet-engaging jaw portion or lip, 13a. Spring means 14 urges lip 13a onto the clipboard-held sheets, the pressure being applied at two panel-face-confronting surface portions of the lip, one of the portions being indicated by a horizontal bracket in FIGURE 5. The surface portions are spaced from one another maximally with respect to lip length, which is an alternative term for clamp width. Integrally flanged from jaw 13 are two lugs 27, which are pivotally secured to lugs 12c and 12d by hollow rivets 28. Jaw 13 is provided with hole 29, which clears base edge 19 and serves for the suspending of the clipboard. This standard clipboard arrangement is however recommendedly displaced by an inverted suspending of the clip board, namely, a suspending of it at the crown-edge-corresponding panel corner, which incidentally perm-its then a small local strengthening of the jaw by imperforateness at the base-edge-proximal jaw portion. For inverted suspending, the crown-edge-proximal hole 31 is provided by a perforating of the panel. And, to prevent the sagging of the clipboard held sheets, there is provided a sheetl-ike stiffener 32, provided with a hole 33, which is alined with hole 31, each large enough to accommodate a hook or nail and recommendedly strengthened with an eyelet. Stifiener 32 may be a pressboard or a plastic sheet or one formed from any other suitable material.

Experience with this invention has taught that occasionally an inactive or an unimportant group of sheets should be removed to avoid having an unwieldy plurality of sheets; a single blank sheet should be temporarily used for replacement of the removed group until a later rearrangement makes blank sheets unnecessary. The clipboard lends itself of course also .to divisions within an otherwise single group, dictated by the wish to quickly locate a subgroup of letters and copies of letters dealing with only one :of a number of matters under discussion with a given party.

1 claim:

1. A clipboard including a mounting panel and a thereto aflixed clamp and being adapted to hold two pluralities of rectangular elongated equidirnensioned sheets, a part of the clamp providing a sheet-corner-accommodating space which is substantially a right-angle V in which the sheet corners are lodged, the panel edges including a base edge and a thereto maximally opposed crown edge, both relatively short, a pair of upper edges and a pair of lower edges, these four being relatively long, each upper edge and laterally corresponding said lower edge extending mutually angularly and jointly adjoiningly intervening between the base edge and the crown edge, the clamp neighboring the base edge, the clamp and the panel face, specifically the base edge and the crown edge, being in the main substantially bilaterally symmetrical to a single plane of symmetry, one said plurality of sheets being leftwardly obliquely disposed, the other being rightwardly obliquely disposed respecting the plane of symmetry by an angle which, in the case of each sheet plurality, measures substantially forty-five degrees, the panel-face planeof-symmetry dimension between the base edge and the crown edge measuring from nine twelfths to sixteen twelfths of the thereto rectangular longest panel-face dimension, the clamp including a jaw mount secured to the panel at the face thereof, a pivotally jaw-mount-afiixed jaw, and, between the jaw and the jaw mount, a spring means which is affixed to the jaw and panelwardly resiliently urges a sheet-engaging lip which is a jaw portion, the right-angle-V-constituting part of the clamp consisting of two jaw-mount portions or guides having respectively two mutually obliquely confronting guide surfaces lying in two planes which are substantially rectangular to one another and to the plane of the panel face, the sheets edgewise engaging said guide surfaces, each of two portions of the spring means intervening between a said guide and a corresponding one of said lower edges.

2. A clamp as described in claim 1, said lip having two panel-face-confnonting surface portions which are spaced from one another maximally respecting lip length.

3. A clamp as described in' claim 1, the spring means consisting of a *jaw-afiixed integral dual-lobe leaf-type spring, the two lobes being adapted to slidably engage the jaw moun-tresp'ectively at two jaw-mount surfaces that parallelwise neighbor the panel face.

4. A clamp as described in claim 2, the spring means consisting of a jaw-affixed integral dual-lobe leaf-type spring, the two lobes being adapted to slidably engage the jaw mount respectively at two jaw-mount surfaces that parallelwise neighbor the panel face.

5. The clipboard described in claim 1, the panel being provided with a crown-edgeaadj-acent hole for the suspending of the clipboard and the clipboard-held sheets.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 491,011 Dom Jan. 31, 1893 854,254 Sumerwell May 21, -7 1,346,886 Halverson July 20, 1920 2,881,009 Delaney Q. Apr. 7, 1959 

1. A CLIPBOARD INCLUDING A MOUNTING PANEL AND A THERETO AFFIXED CLAMP AND BEING ADAPTED TO HOLD TWO PLURALITIES OF RECTANGULAR ELONGATED EQUIDIMENSIONED SHEETS, A PART OF THE CLAMP PROVIDING A SHEET-CORNER-ACCOMMODATING SPACE WHICH IS SUBSTANTIALLY A RIGHT-ANGLE V IN WHICH THE SHEET CORNERS ARE LODGED, THE PANEL EDGES INCLUDING A BASE EDGE AND A THERETO MAXIMALLY OPPOSED CROWN EDGE, BOTH RELATIVELY SHORT, A PAIR OF UPPER EDGES AND A PAIR OF LOWER EDGES, THESE FOUR BEING RELATIVELY LONG, EACH UPPER EDGE AND LATERALLY CORRESPONDING SAID LOWER EDGE EXTENDING MUTUALLY ANGULARLY AND JOINTLY ADJOININGLY INTERVENING BETWEEN THE BASE EDGE AND THE CROWN EDGE, THE CLAMP NEIGHBORING THE BASE EDGE, THE CLAMP AND THE PANEL FACE, SPECIFICALLY THE BASE EDGE AND THE CROWN EDGE, BEING IN THE MAIN SUBSTATIALLY BILATERALLY SYMMETRICAL TO A SINGLE PLANE OF SYMMETRY, ONE SAID PLURALITY OF SHEETS BEING LEFTWARDLY OBLIQUELY DISPOSED, THE OTHER BEING RIGHTWARDLY OBLIQUELY DISPOSED RESPECTING THE PLANE OF SYMMETRY BY AN ANGLE WHICH, IN THE CASE OF EACH SHEET PLURALITY, MEASURES SUBSTANTIALLY FORTY-FIVE DEGREES, THE PANEL-FACE PLANEOF-SYMMETRY DIMENSION BETWEEN THE BASE EDGE AND THE CROWN EDGE MEASURING FROM NINE TWELFTHS TO SIXTEEN TWELFTHS OF THE THERETO RECTANGULAR LONGEST PANEL-FACE DIMENSION, THE CLAMP INCLUDING A JAW MOUNT SECURED TO THE PANEL AT THE FACE THEREOF, A PIVOTALLY JAW-MOUNT-AFFIXED JAW, AND, BETWEEN THE JAW AND THE JAW MOUNT, A SPRING MEANS WHICH IS AFFIXED TO THE JAW AND PANELWARDLY RESILIENTLY URGES A SHEET-ENGAGING LIP WHICH IS A JAW PORTION, THE RIGHT-ANGLE-V-CONSTITUTING PART OF THE CLAMP CONSISTING OF TWO JAW-MOUNT PORTIONS OR GUIDES HAVING RESPECTIVELY TWO MUTUALLY OBLIQUELY CONFRONTING GUIDE SURFACES LYING IN TWO PLANES WHICH ARE SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR TO ONE ANOTHER AND TO THE PLANE OF THE PANEL FACE, THE SHEETS EDGEWISE ENGAGING SAID GUIDE SURFACES, EACH OF TWO PORTIONS OF THE SPRING MEANS INTERVENING BETWEEN A SAID GUIDE AND A CORRESPONDING ONE OF SAID LOWER EDGES. 